<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Things will be Fine by AnneLaurant</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30118359">Things will be Fine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnneLaurant/pseuds/AnneLaurant'>AnneLaurant</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Aveyond</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>As canon compliant as I tried to make it, Canon Compliant, Duty Over Self, Future Fic, Gen, Growing Old Together, Post-Canon, Queenhood, Slice of Life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:27:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,654</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30118359</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnneLaurant/pseuds/AnneLaurant</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhen chooses to become a queen, and Lars pursues a career in Shadwood Academy. Things get a bit uncertain, but it will be fine. It will all be fine.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Background Lars Tenobor/OC, Background Rhen Pendragon/Dameon Maurva, Rhen Pendragon &amp; Lars Tenobor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Things will be Fine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>YES I FINALLY PUBLISHED A FIC ABOUT THIS THANK GOD FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.</p><p>Edit: WARNING! There's some potentially triggering stuff in this fic. Read at your own risk.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rhen decides to raise Thais from the ashes, and immediately, Lars gives her the wide eyes of disapproval and shock. He pulls her aside, tells her she's crazy, but nonetheless parts very important words.</p><p>"You're entering the world of vipers. Remember to hold onto that noble heart."</p><p>He's worried, and it makes her laugh. How far they've both come.</p><p>"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I have Dameon with me."</p><p>He smiles. "Good luck."</p><p>Rhen gives him Lars hug, and he shakes hands with Dameon, exchanges probably the same warnings. With one last look at her best friend, Rhen turns away, interlaces her fingers with Dameon's, and sets for her next adventure.</p><p>Being queen. She can't wait!</p>
<hr/><p>She can practically feel the crown on her head, and Rhen has never felt more excited in her life.</p><p>She is getting married to the love of her life, and at the end of the ceremony, she is going to be crowned as Queen, with her dearest as the King.</p><p>Her hair flows in beautiful curls behind her, and her dress shines an immaculate white. White roses decorate the ensemble - she looks like an exquisite queen.</p><p>The handmaidens are excited too, so excited she has to shoo them away from the man she chose to accompany her down the aisle.</p><p>"Thanks for agreeing to do this," Rhen says as she takes Lars' arm. He only rolls his eyes.</p><p>"I still think you should've had Tailor Darzon or Devin Perry in my place."</p><p>"I am not going to walk down the aisle accompanied by a druid, and Pa was too sick to leave Clearwater."</p><p>"Runes?"</p><p>"...I didn't think of that."</p><p>They laugh. Oh, well! Rhen swears she will move Pa and Ma into Thais as soon as Pa gets well.</p><p>Then, Lars whispers, "Thank you for letting me have this honor."</p><p>Rhen leans against his shoulder. "You're already like a twin brother to me. A sib from another crib."</p><p>"Yeah. I can toootally feel you from miles away."</p><p>"Twin telepathy is amazing, isn't it?"</p><p>"Yeah. We're so in sync. I also love Dameon now. Wow."</p><p>Rhen laughs.</p><p>And Rhen breaks out in a wide grin as she took Dameon's hand, the crowns upon their heads. Lars claps his hands like the crowd did, though worry still laces his eyes.</p><p>"It'll be fine," she whispers as she dances with him during the reception, "I can handle myself."</p><p>Lars promises to visit.</p>
<hr/><p>The weight of her crown is pretty heavy.</p><p>Rhen finds herself barely catching enough sleep. She studies well, she knows that, but with everything she learned, she has to learn ten times more. Culture is ever evolving, and the passing of time adds to history.</p><p>Dameon supports her well. He is well-versed in politics as a druid, and his charming tongue sways allies and enemies alike.</p><p>But work never runs out. Paperworks, meetings, events, more meetings, more paperworks... Rhen thinks it's better to swing a sword around than to be stuck on a chair trying to absorb a huge amount of information.</p><p>At the very least, the School of War and Magick is back up and running. The Empress of the Eastern Empire sends her some of Shadwood's finest to help the school establish its footing once more, and it is there where she meets Lars again.</p><p>His hair has grown long, is the first thought she has in mind. His face has not changed, is the next.</p><p>She shoos the female staff off him and gives him a warm, tight hug.</p><p>"Twin telepathy works!" he says, "I heard your message in my mind and I came here as fast as I could."</p><p>"Shut up." Rhen sends a light punch to his stomach, and Lars moans a little too long, a little too loudly. "Oh you dramatic little piece of--come on! I'm not that weak, and neither are you!"</p><p>"So what do I have to do?"</p><p>Rhen gives him a tour of the new school. She gives him direction, leaves him and Dameon to discuss the vision, and feels as if a heavy weight is lifted off her.</p><p>She'll be fine.</p>
<hr/><p>The weight of her crown is pretty heavy, and it sends her back to a time when she and Lars were enemies.</p><p>In the castle, people love gossip. Rhen wakes up and hears hushed whispers from the maids. Rhen walks around the halls and hears hushed whispers from the guards. Rhen sits in the office and hears hushed whispers from the Chancellor. Rhen attends a meeting and hears hushed whispers from the ministers. Rhen goes to a charity event and hears whispers from nobles and commoners alike.</p><p>Why won't people stop?</p><p>In the privacy of her and her husband's bedroom, she complains. She's frustrated - why is everything she does so important? Why is the way she walks, the way she eats so significant? None of those things are important compared to the logic of having to better the life of the poor, to allocate resources properly, to stick to the right thing!</p><p>Sometimes her talks with Dameon is fruitful, and she gets some nice ideas from brainstorming with him. Sometimes he gets frustrated trying to comfort her, and Rhen can't blame him. He knows what he's doing; she doesn't, and she always tells him.</p><p>So when her hubby gets tired of listening to her, she pays a visit to the school and corners Lars.</p><p>"How come you get to teach slaves in Veldarah? What does your mother think of you? Or Ylitta? Hector? The other nobles?"</p><p>Lars grins and only says, "Well, let's put it this way. They don't really approve, but it isn't interfered with. Not good, but not bad. Still progress; better than nothing."</p><p>"I hate how you turned this on me." Rhen remembers the many times she's dealt with Lars' complaints, and she's familiar with those phrases. Not good, but not bad. There's still progress, and that's what matters.</p><p>He senses her distress, and she's so relieved he asks, "What's up?"</p><p>"People badmouthing me all the time. And it hurts to hear it from the people I thought were my friends."</p><p>"Ah, that. They're probably just jealous you're so pretty and you're the queen."</p><p>"Really?" Rhen giggles.</p><p>"That's usually what it means to be in the circle of the rich. Everyone's wary and jealous of each other."</p><p>"And that's why you guys take it out on slaves?"</p><p>"Some of us, yes." Lars sighs, and his voice drops to a whisper. "It's lonely. Too lonely for, well, words. It's like being back in the cave with Ahriman, except you're surrounded with just Ahriman's words. And every wall and ceiling and floor is made up of those words."</p><p>Rhen stares at the ground. Now that, that feeling she is familiar with. Except she can chase those fears away with a sword.</p><p>"I can't exactly swing my sword at the ministers or the nobles!"</p><p>"And I can't use my magic to whisk them away to Oracle-knows-where, if I don't want the Empress to imprison me."</p><p>"So what do you do?"</p><p>Lars gestures to his office. It's filled with books, orbs, potions, and other knickknacks a sorcerer needs. "Work."</p><p>"Come oooon." Rhen pouts. "My work isn't as exciting as yours."</p><p>"Then make time to spar? I mean you're here now, in the school. You can just use the courtyard here to do some practice matches or whatever!"</p><p>Lars is such a genius, and Rhen tackles him in appreciation. "That's a great idea!"</p><p>She'll be fine.</p>
<hr/><p>The weight of her crown is pretty heavy, but sometimes it gives her a free pass to things. And one of those things is escaping some duties to attend Lars' wedding in Ghalarah.</p><p>The practice matches help the school in Thais, and Lars says goodbye a few weeks after. Rhen promises to visit, and now she sees to it.</p><p>She and Dameon are not familiar with the bride, but the stranger is lovely with her veil framing her face. Rhen loves her at first sight, and she greets Lars with a hug and a whispered "Congratulations."</p><p>He introduces them, says his bride's name is Reina Veilwing, says she's from the neighboring State of Amirah, says she's a light mage. Dameon affirms he feels the radiance as a former sun priest, and Reina bows respectfully to confirm that she too knows of Dameon's affinity with the light. Rhen laughs as she looks at her husband and Lar's wife. They get along!</p><p>"Look at how we've grown," Rhen whispers to Lars as they dance during the reception, "Once we were enemies, and now, we're attending each other's weddings."</p><p>"Soon, we're going to be marrying off our kids to each other."</p><p>Rhen's eyes widen, and she hits Lars on the shoulder. People look at them funny and Lars has to pull her aside.</p><p>"What did I say?"</p><p>"Lars, I'm not going to marry our kids together! I'm not even planning on having any."</p><p>"But you'll have to have kids." Lars' eyes are full of worry, and his hands hold hers. "It's duty."</p><p>"Well I guess I can have one who's my own blood."</p><p>"But you have to give birth." Rhen flinches a little at his words. "It's in the Thais' laws of succession. Didn't you read that?"</p><p>"...no? How about you?"</p><p>"Uh, I don't have a way to get around Amirah's laws of succession either. Um."</p><p>They stand in silence as both of them pale. Rhen thinks she should laugh, because again, they share a similar sucky fate, faced with hard choices they have to make, having to sacrifice personal choice and dignity in the process.</p><p>Except now, the situation is something they can't really share with each other.</p><p>Rhen isn't sure of childbirth. Lars isn't interested in intimacy. And they're not quite sure how to break the news to their significant others, or the other people around them who care.</p><p>Will things still be fine?</p>
<hr/><p>The weight of her crown is pretty heavy, and her womb is a tool.</p><p>Lars says he plans to suck it up, "take it like a pro, I guess," then bury himself in work to forget it ever happened. He'll have to avoid his wife for a while, but she'll understand anyway, because she’s kind enough, and before he married her, he was already married to work. He soon visits to check on the school, looks at her with bloodshot eyes, and bids her, "Good luck."</p><p>Rhen admires his bravery.</p><p>As soon as Lars leaves for Veldarah again, she confesses her little secret, her big fear to Dameon. They talk, they compromise – only one child – and after much contemplation, they take the dive.</p><p>It <em>sucks</em>.</p><p>Rhen begins to harbor hate for a thing, a life she's supposed to love. Her moods are erratic, and she has to fight the urge to stab the alien growth on her body. There's something growing inside of her - part of it is her, part of it is Dameon, but somehow, there's not a lot of things that can convince her to see this as a "child".</p><p>She often sees a maternity healer, and the older woman explains to her it's supposed to be "normal".</p><p>There has to be nothing normal about this. It was as if the Sword of Shadows was strapped to her back again, and it was whispering all these dark suggestions in her head.</p><p>Rhen cuts down on her activities to keep her sanity. She avoids the sword, avoids stressful meetings, avoids going out to the public if she can. She eats the right food, reads only happy literature, sings only positive music.</p><p>Dameon bears a good fraction of the work as well, as he faithfully tends to her and her whims. It has to be difficult to keep up with her ever-changing moods!</p><p>She loves Dameon. He's the father of this "child". He's her partner for life. He's her lover and he's also her best friend (like Lars and Peter). She focuses her mind on Dameon, and he soon becomes the reason she holds on, and she has to keep guarding against herself.</p><p>Rhen wonders about how Lars is doing, if this is how he keeps himself sane, too. If he anchors his own sanity on his wife’s wellbeing, if he ever thinks about Rhen and what she herself is doing. Rhen laughs at herself for ever mentioning having "twin telepathy" with him, but she prays it works, and she prays they’re both feeding positive vibes to each other, to last through this ordeal.</p><p>They’ll be fine, they’ll be fine, they’ll all be fine…</p>
<hr/><p>The weight of her crown is pretty heavy, and she realizes she has to pass it down one day.</p><p>Her Ma and Dameon coo over the child, and soon Rhen holds the child in her hands, symbolically "accepting" being a mother. It's a boy, and Dameon calls the child "Leon". Leon has a lot of his features, and as horrible realization sends Rhen into tears.</p><p>She recovers, because she's strong. And her fears from those past nine months seem like a big tantrum. Choice be damned; she isn't going to mess up the life of a child, and she isn't going to abandon her child like her own birth father did.</p><p>She sees Lars again when she's well enough to visit Veldarah and Shadwood Academy. They oversee a year-ender event together, and she scoots to him.</p><p>"It's a boy," she says simply.</p><p>"Mine too."</p><p>"I'm a horrible mother. To think, I was almost going to kill him."</p><p>"Well, I'm a horrible father for naming mine after me. He's going to hate me when he grows up."</p><p>"Think we can both found an association for horrible parents?"</p><p>They laugh.</p><p>They're hurt, but they can pick themselves up, and they're not about to do what their own parents did to them. The weight of their names is on their backs, but it’s not going to crash down on their own children.</p>
<hr/><p>The years pass, and the weight never really lifts, but the visits continue. (And assumably, the "twin" telepathy still works.)</p><p>In the years, Rhen raises her dear Leon to be a leader strong enough to hold on his own, and Lars gets a second child of his own; this one a daughter he calls Rowan.</p><p>In the years, Rhen watches Tailor Darzon pass away, and Lars quietly informs her of his wife’s sudden passing.</p><p>In the years, Rhen and Lars share a good lot of experiences, some of them nice, some of them not as nice. Thais gets back on its feet. Veldarah honors Lord Lars Setiah Tenobor as High Sorcerer. The Eastern Empire continues its slave trade. The Pendragon heir meets the Tenobor siblings.</p><p>Rhen and Lars have tea. Dameon’s trying to solve a squabble among the kids with utmost patience. Rhen has no idea how Lars can manage on his own with two little humans following him. Lars has no idea how Rhen managed to pull a miracle and turn Thais’ fate upside-down.</p><p>And they laugh. They laugh like the old times and talk about each and every of their party members – Elini, Te’ijal, Galahad, John, Marge – and they talk about the dragons that began to fly again over the horizons. They talk about the schools, the disciplines, the magic around them, and they begin to sing a beautiful cantata from their academy days. The harmony of Rhen’s soprano and Lars’ tenor – a remnant of their days as a sword singer and sorcerer gone by – attracts a crowd around them, and as the maids and guards clap, they promise their children they’ll teach the song.</p><p>Life is scary and uncertain. Some plans will fail, some plans will succeed, and some plans just won’t push through and will be forgotten along the way. But as long as you hold onto your noble heart and the hand of a trusted friend (or two), things will be fine.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a few last notes:</p><ul>
<li>I don't really "ship" DamRhen (or Rhameon?), but in DamRhen canon, I wanna imagine that Rhen and Lars maintain a very strong friendship and that Dameon and Lars put whatever beef they had behind them.</li>
<li>With Uthar and Nicolas being snobby princes (or at least Uthar used to be one), I like to think that they have mixed Tenobor blood. Leon, Lars II, and Rowan being together is a sign that the Pendragon-Tenobor friendship continues. Not sure about future lines, but eh, Mel's with Lars VIII, so Edward can meet his own Tenobro (pun totally intended).</li>
<li>Leon, Lars II, Rowan, and Reina are old OCs. I tried to recycle as many as I can of my old ideas for a canonical AV1 direct sequel. And Leon and Rowan are definitely an item.</li>
<li>The point where Lars and Rhen sing together is an extension of my headcanon wherein Shadwood people should know how to sing because their voice is basically the primary medium of their magic. Also it's also pure headcanon that "Amirah" is one of the other states under the Eastern Empire.</li>
<li>I ran out of space to discuss Lars' and Rhen's POVs on their parents. But it's basically: Rhen feels estranged from Devin and Alicia but she cares too much to abandon Thais; also she still considers the Darzons as her real parents. Meanwhile Lars just feels like both of his parents are too far from him; his mother doesn't approve of his pro-slave sentiment and his dad is MIA, so the closest thing to a parent (and family*) he has is his cousin the Empress (I call her "Aneeva").</li>
<li>I also ran out of space to discuss more about Reina but, oh well!</li>
<li>Also that point where Lars and Rhen had to give up some part of themselves to have children? That hurt me so much too, so I did my best to give it a good ending nonetheless and make things a little better for them.</li>
</ul><p>Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the ride!</p><p>* I know I said they're like "twins", but I really can't choose a proper label for Lars and Rhen's relationship. Not even "partners" quite make the cut. I believe I once primarily summed it up as "more than friends, less than lovers". I don't know. Help.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>